When do you think the golf boom will end?

[monty09]

the last 24 months have seen so many new golfers pick up the game and a massive influx of $$$ into public and private golf... when do you think it will tapper down? 

[jmudo]

Depends on the economy in my opinion. 

[Abh159]

Based on the past... most golf booms go strong for 3-5 years, start to slowly taper off from years 5-10, and then really slow down from years 10-20. 

 

Then the whole process starts over.

[596]

The taper hit about 2 weeks ago, when all the Canadians and Cottontops went back north! 😁

Edited May 18, 2022 by 596

[GAGolfer1]

With everyone flocking to Florida for a plethora of reasons…it doesn’t appear anytime soon here

[Notashank]

When and if the housing market crashes. 

[vallygolf]

June 14 2023 at 3:23pm    Epicenter will be Murray Utah.

[lowndes]

I think it will be in the next 24 months or so.  I expect that there will be a recession some point next year which will be a catalyst for a lot of offices that have been dealing with workers still wanting to work from home to go back to the way things were pre-pandemic (i.e. more in person than we are seeing now).  With both of those I think golf will be back to the way it was for most of last decade.  

[monty09]

48 minutes ago, lowndes said:

I think it will be in the next 24 months or so.  I expect that there will be a recession some point next year which will be a catalyst for a lot of offices that have been dealing with workers still wanting to work from home to go back to the way things were pre-pandemic (i.e. more in person than we are seeing now).  With both of those I think golf will be back to the way it was for most of last decade.  

 

 

tend to agree.   I know we have had a hard time getting workers back into the office 

[kwcsports]

I hope soon, can't get tee times

[MountainKing]

In the Chicago area it seems to be tapering off a bit.  The last few nice days I've been out the courses have been empty, there odesn't seem to be a fight for tee times this year like I saw last year. 

[leezer99]

19 minutes ago, monty09 said:

 

 

tend to agree.   I know we have had a hard time getting workers back into the office 

I only ever had to go into the office for quarterly meetings or mandatory in person training because I’m in field sales but if my job forced me to waste 2 hours a day driving back and forth to the office I’d quit. 

[Flip4000]

In MN I can book same-day afternoon tee times again, which is nice.

[Shushwap]

2 hours ago, jmudo said:

Depends on the economy in my opinion. 

This right here... A downturn is coming as the average Joe is over extended.. cheap rates and covid drove many to spend money on all sorts of toys.. 

 The average Joe can't afford to keep golfing in my area.. A decent course will run you 110 to 160

We're losing 3 walkable courses here in the next few years to development 

 

[iGolf67]

1 minute ago, Shushwap said:

This right here... A downturn is coming as the average Joe is over extended.. cheap rates and covid drove many to spend money on all sorts of toys.. 

 The average Joe can't afford to keep golfing in my area.. A decent course will run you 110 to 160

We're losing 3 walkable courses here in the next few years to development 

 

Not only the price to play a round of golf is increasing, but the cost of equipment has gone up too. 

 

I'm sure people working from home during the pandemic is the main reason for the "boom" in golf. 

[Shushwap]

9 minutes ago, iGolf67 said:

Not only the price to play a round of golf is increasing, but the cost of equipment has gone up too. 

 

I'm sure people working from home during the pandemic is the main reason for the "boom" in golf. 

Cost of everything for a course has sky rocketed..I was talking with the super at my home course and he said most things have doubled or tripled in price.. 

I just hope courses are shoveling money away for when the down times come.. whenever that may be..

Courses in my area are as packed as they were during the height of covid 

I was just reading a report today on the top 5 courses in my area and the #1 course had over 115 thousand rounds played there in 2020

Edited May 18, 2022 by Shushwap

[me05501]

I played a private club here yesterday with an 830am tee time. It was just the member and me. There was another twosome that went out just ahead of us. We'd see them from time to time but never really waited on them. 

 

I was kind of surprised when we finished 18 holes and the parking lot and course were still relatively empty.

 

Maybe golf is healing, lol. 

[Nard_S]

I'm in greater NYC, 50 miles out, compared to last two years, this past month has been noticeably less crowded and we have had a population boom.

[Warrior42111]

1 hour ago, lowndes said:

I think it will be in the next 24 months or so.  I expect that there will be a recession some point next year which will be a catalyst for a lot of offices that have been dealing with workers still wanting to work from home to go back to the way things were pre-pandemic (i.e. more in person than we are seeing now).  With both of those I think golf will be back to the way it was for most of last decade.  

Is that really cost effective for the offices in a recession though?

 

My company is on a hybrid schedule with every from home some days and in office others. Less wear and tear, utilities, etc. for the building and employees saving on gas, eating out etc. Also, at least at my place we proved we are effective working from home. Seems like a win win to me.

Edited May 18, 2022 by Warrior42111

[lowndes]

1 minute ago, Warrior42111 said:

Is that really cost effective for the offices in a recession though?

 

My company is on a hybrid schedule with every from home some days and in office others. Less wear and tear, utilities, etc. for the building and employees saving on gas, eating out etc. Also, at least at my place we proved we are effective working from home. Seems like a win win to me.

 

Can't speak for industries I don't work in.  But for what I do people are not nearly as effective working from home.  And it is pretty easy to judge as we operate on the billable hour.  It's also pretty easy to see that quality of work has gone down. Not to mention that for people starting out it is really not possible to effectively learn what we do remotely.  I know a lot of people feel similarly who I interact with but that doesn't mean every industry/profession is setup the same way.  A lot of folks didn't work from an office prior to Covid so my comment had nothing to do with that setup.

[monty09]

7 minutes ago, lowndes said:

 

Can't speak for industries I don't work in.  But for what I do people are not nearly as effective working from home.  And it is pretty easy to judge as we operate on the billable hour.  It's also pretty easy to see that quality of work has gone down. Not to mention that for people starting out it is really not possible to effectively learn what we do remotely.  I know a lot of people feel similarly who I interact with but that doesn't mean every industry/profession is setup the same way.  A lot of folks didn't work from an office prior to Covid so my comment had nothing to do with that setup.

 

 

agree on having people in the office for effectivity in my industry as well. As a partner of the company we also have massive fixed cost on long term lease, desktops, technology etc   we want people back in the office... yesterday 

[Warrior42111]

5 minutes ago, lowndes said:

 

Can't speak for industries I don't work in.  But for what I do people are not nearly as effective working from home.  And it is pretty easy to judge as we operate on the billable hour.  It's also pretty easy to see that quality of work has gone down. Not to mention that for people starting out it is really not possible to effectively learn what we do remotely.  I know a lot of people feel similarly who I interact with but that doesn't mean every industry/profession is setup the same way.  A lot of folks didn't work from an office prior to Covid so my comment had nothing to do with that setup.

I agree, it's different per industry, and really per person. Like anything in the world you probably need a balance or your going to have crap employees or crap results and even worse both. 

 

From a golf boom stand point I do think it will slow, but not as quickly or as much as other dips historically. IMO that's due to the WFH life nowadays. Sure some people will go back to full office, but other will be hybrid and WFH that still golf. I know myself contributed to the boom, I can start at 6am vs 8am on those days and get all my work done then play 9 or 18 on a weekday. I and I assume many others could never do that before.

[david.c.w]

54 minutes ago, Flip4000 said:

In MN I can book same-day afternoon tee times again, which is nice.

Same for my club.  We had a tremendous squeeze on times.  Now we are still busy, but trending more toward pre-pandemic levels.

[srs06d]

2 hours ago, leezer99 said:

I only ever had to go into the office for quarterly meetings or mandatory in person training because I’m in field sales but if my job forced me to waste 2 hours a day driving back and forth to the office I’d quit. 

If you spent the majority of your time in the office while working in a field sales role you'd probably be fired before you could quit.

[Bonneville85308]

I've been noticing in the last 2 months that weekday public course play is just about back to 2019 levels in the areas of the country where I play. Conversations with some pro shop staff have confirmed this. Weekends are still feeling the COVID boom but down from the peak. 

Edited May 18, 2022 by Bonneville85308

[cmatthews77]

I’d fully expect the gold boom to slow way down in the next 2 years based on economic conditions and work life slowly shifting back away from the Covid work at home boom. But we’ll see. 

[Wham49]

hopefully by next Sunday

[Sboooooo1245]

Definitely has slowed in SoCal. It was impossible to get a weekend morning tee time for a year. I’ve notified there’s a lot of reservations still taken but then way more cancellations too. Range was packed every night and is back to normal. I think the real answer is people don’t realize how hard this game is and a fixed percentage is only ever going to want to play consistently when other options are out there. 

[nsxguy]

My understanding of the golf boom really had little to do with people working at home. After all, what's the difference working in the office and working at home - you still can't get out and play golf if you're working.

 

The boom happened mainly due to Covid. Golf was the one(?) activity where people could get out in the fresh air, DO something while still (somewhat) spending a little time with someone other than immediate family.

 

Now that these people can mostly resume their previous lives I'm thinking golf will go back to "taking up too much time".

 

[ArtMBgolf]

I am not seeing beginners at the higher end courses that were full last year.  
I think that everyone that ever played golf and has clubs was willing to pay anything to 
get out and felt safer on the course than at other activities.      
 
I don't have a good observation for this year.  Possibly those who realize they suck at golf and 
won't commit to getting better will slack off playing and those who overspent on golf/clubs 
might reduce play.